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(Alliance News) - Argo Blockchain PLC on Tuesday said talks for a planned partnership and share swap with Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd have been terminated.
Shares in Argo were down 4.3% at 10.06 pence in London shortly before mid day.
Argo said talks for the proposed deal, which was announced in May, were ended "by mutual agreement".
The reason given for the termination was that Argo has, since May, conducted a USD16 million investment programme to double its in-house blockchain mining infrastructure by the end of 2019 and is planning another "major increase in production capacity" in 2020.
Given this investment, Argo no longer believes it would be beneficial for shareholders to undertake a partnership that would dilute equity, and so it will instead pursue its "current plans".
Argo co-founder Chair Mike Edwards said: "We established a great rapport with the Hive team over the past several months but both companies have agreed to pursue the many opportunities now opening up in the industry separately. We wish them well for the future."